Natural Products Center

The Natural Products Center (NPC) was set up in 1996 in the former Bioscience Research Facility on Valencia Road. Today NPC is engaged in research on anticancer, anti-HIV, anti-infective, and anti-inflammatory drug discovery from Sonoran desert plants and their associated microorganisms, genetic investigation of natural product biosynthesis in selected microorganisms, commercialization of Hesperaloe fiber, and development of alternate agricultural systems. Most of these projects are targeted for improving the longevity of agriculture in Arizona, the Southwest, and semiarid lands throughout the world and to understand the complex ecology of arid land ecosystems.